Thompson was born and raised in Washington, D.C., and is a practicing Roman Catholic.[1] As a child, his mother insisted on sending him to Catholic schools for the educational opportunities and academic challenges.[citation needed] At Archbishop Carroll High School, Thompson emerged as a standout center, playing in three consecutive City Championship games (1958–60). In 1959, Carroll All-Mets Thompson, Monk Malloy, George Leftwich and Tom Hoover won over Cardozo 79–52. The next year, Thompson and Leftwich led the Lions over the Ollie Johnson/Dave Bing led Spingarn, 69–54. During his senior year, Thompson led Carroll to a 24–0 record, preserving their 48-game winning streak along the way. Carroll capped off the undefeated 1960 season with a 57–55 win over St Catherine's Angels of Racine, WI in the Knights of Columbus National Championship Tournament with Thompson pacing the Lions with 15 points. Thompson finished the season as the top scorer in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, averaging 21 points per game.[citation needed]

After graduating from Archbishop Carroll, Thompson went to Providence College, where he played on the 1963 NIT Championship team with Ray Flynn, and was part of the first Providence NCAA tournament team in 1964. He was an All-American in his senior year of 1964. Upon graduation, Thompson was the Friars' all-time leader in points, scoring average, and field goal percentage, and second in rebounds.[citation needed] Currently, Thompson is 11th on the all-time scoring list at PC, fourth in scoring average, sixth in field goal percentage, and third in rebounds.[citation needed]

He was drafted in the third round in 1964 and played two years in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Boston Celtics in 1964–1966.[2] At 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) and 270 lb (120 kg), he backed up Bill Russell, the Celtics star center, en route to two championships. Nicknamed "The Caddy" for his secondary role to Russell, he averaged 3.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 74 games played. He retired in 1966 to begin a much more successful career in coaching.[3]

Thompson, an imposing figure on the sidelines who towered over many opposing coaches (and players, for that matter), was often noted for the trademark white towel that he carried on his shoulder during the games, a color from which his critics took symbolic meaning.[citation needed] Inheriting a Georgetown team which had been 3–23 the year before, Thompson quickly and dramatically improved the team, making the NCAA tournament within three seasons. Over the following 27 years, Thompson's Hoyas went 596–239 (.714), running off a streak of 24 postseason appearances – 20 in the NCAA tournament and 4 in the NIT – including a 14-year streak of NCAA appearances from 1979–1992 that saw three Final Four appearances in 1982, 1984 and 1985, winning a National Championship in 1984 and narrowly missing a repeat the next year by losing to underdog Villanova.

John Thompson's career as head coach of Georgetown was not without controversy. Perhaps one of the most controversial incidents was the hanging of a sign in the McDonough Gymnasium. In 1975, after another perceived mediocre year, a sign was hung at the top of the rafters reading "Thompson the nigger flop must go."[4] The university quickly took down the sign and silenced talks for his termination.

In the late 1980s, Thompson got word that several of his players, including Alonzo Mourning, were associating with noted DC drug lord (and avid Hoya fan) Rayful Edmond III,[5] whose crew was connected to at least forty homicides.[6] At the height of his empire, Edmond became very friendly with several Hoyas players. When Thompson confirmed what was happening, he sent word through his sources to have Edmond meet him at his office at McDonough Gymnasium.

When Edmond arrived, Thompson was initially cordial, and informed Edmond that he needed to cease all contacts with his players post haste,[7] specifically John Turner and Mourning, both of whom had befriended Edmond.[8] When Edmond tried to assure him that his players were not involved in anything illegal, the 6'10" Thompson stood up and pointed his index finger between Edmond's eyes. Thompson, known for his legendary volatility, quickly boiled over, and unleashed a profanity-laced tirade in which he told Edmond that he didn't care about his crew's violent reputation or propensity to commit murder. Edmond had crossed a line with Thompson's players, and Thompson was not going to allow Edmond to destroy the players' lives.[9]

By all accounts, Edmond never associated with another Hoyas player on a personal level. It was believed that Thompson was the only person to stand up to Edmond without consequence,[10] initially causing some shock and surprise that there was no reprisal.[11]

Thompson, who had served as an assistant coach for the gold medal winning team in the 1976 Summer Olympics, coached the US team at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Although favored to win the international tournament, the United States was narrowly defeated by the Soviet Union in the semifinals 82–76, marking the first time the United States did not reach the gold medal game. The team proceeded to win its final game against Australia to secure the bronze medal.

Esherick was fired in 2004 and replaced by John Thompson III, the old coach's eldest son. At the time the elder Thompson was serving Georgetown in what Rev. Leo J. O'Donovan, university president, referred to as a "coach emeritus" position, assisting on academic, athletic and community projects.[citation needed]

After retiring from coaching, Thompson continued to be active in basketball as a commentator for both professional (mainly for TNT) and collegiate games. He hosted The John Thompson Show, a sports talk show on ESPN 980 in Washington, D.C. Thompson is perhaps best known for beginning interviews with the statement, "Let me ask you a question..."[citation needed] Thompson signed a lifetime contract with Clear Channel Radio and SportsTalk 980 in February 2006. He continues to spend a lot of time around the Georgetown basketball program, including traveling to road games and participating in press conferences. He worked with former Washington Redskins tight end Rick Walker and producer Chuck Sapienza. Thompson left ESPN 980 in March 2012 to pursue other broadcasting opportunities.

^ abcdeAlthough an independent, Georgetown participated from 1975 to 1979 in one of the regional end-of-season ECAC Tournaments organized by the Eastern College Athletic Conference – a loosely organized sports federation of Eastern colleges and universities – for ECAC members which played as independents during the regular season. Each of these regional tournaments provided its winner with an automatic bid to that year‍ '​s NCAA Tournament in the same manner as conference tournaments of conventional conferences. Georgetown played in the ECAC South Region Tournament from 1975 to 1977, winning it in 1975 and 1976, and in the ECAC South-Upstate Region Tournament in 1978 and 1979, winning it in 1979.

^ abcdThompson resigned at midseason on January 8, 1999. Craig Esherick immediately succeeded him as head coach. Esherick led the team to a regular-season conference record of 6-12 and a 7th-place conference finish, a first-round loss in the 1999 National Invitation Tournament, and an overall record for 1998-99 of 15-16.